Garmr- Norse CreatureCreature · Beast"Hound of Hel"
Also known as: Garm
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Description
Blood-stained and bound before the cave Gnipahellir, this hound guards the road to Hel. His howling heralds Ragnarök in the Völuspá. When the fetters snap, he charges into the final battle against Týr, and both fall.
Mythology & Lore
Guardian at the Gate
Before the cave Gnipahellir, at the threshold of the realm of the dead, a monstrous hound strains against its chains. The Gylfaginning calls Garmr the greatest of all dogs, blood-soaked and set to watch the boundary between the living and the dead.
In Baldrs draumar, Odin rides down the road to Hel to learn the fate of his son. Garmr howls at him from the entrance, gore upon his chest. Even the Allfather must pass the blood-stained guardian to reach the halls below.
Ragnarök
The Völuspá uses Garmr's voice as a refrain. Three times the seeress declares: "Garmr howls loud before Gnipahellir; the fetter will break and the ravenous one run free." Each cry marks another stage in the world's collapse.
When the fetters finally snap, Garmr charges onto the field of Vígríðr. Snorri's Gylfaginning gives him his opponent: Týr, the one-handed god. The two destroy each other.